Arabesque () is a style of

Turkish music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music ...

popular in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. The genre was particularly popular in Turkey from the 1960s through the 2000s. Its aesthetics have evolved over the decades and into the 2010s. It often includes the

bağlama The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...

and

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...

. Arabesque music is mostly in a minor key, typically in varieties of the

Phrygian mode : The Phrygian mode (pronounced ) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek ''tonos'' or ''harmonia,'' sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the medieval Phrygian mode, and the m ...

; it heavily features themes that tend to focus on issues of longing, strife, and desire.

Description and history

A very small percentage of Arabesque is exclusively instrumental. For the great majority of it, a singer lies at the center of the music. Male singers dominated the genre in its early years, but female singers probably predominated during its peak years of popularity. Simultaneously, with the influx of female singers, the sound grew more dancey and upbeat. Suat Sayın is generally considered the founder of the genre. Other well-known older singers are

Orhan Gencebay Orhan Gencebay (born 4 August 1944) is a Turkish people, Turkish musician, bağlama virtuoso, composer, singer, arranger, record producer, music producer, music director, and actor. Gencebay was born in the coastal town of Samsun on 4 August 194 ...

Ferdi Tayfur Ferdi Tayfur (; born Ferdi Tayfur Turanbayburt; 15 November 1945 – 2 January 2025) was a Turkish singer, actor, director, songwriter and screenwriter. He was born in the Taşçı neighbourhood of Adana and led a successful career in Arabesque ...

, Müslüm Gürses, and Hakkı Bulut. One of the most prolific and commercially successful is İbrahim Tatlıses, who broke all sales records in Turkey in 1978 and continues to turn out popular music to this day. He has maintained popularity in the Arabesk scene in recent years through remixing his tracks into dance-friendly club tracks. The pure Arabesque album “Acıların Kadını” (tr: woman of pains) by the singer

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

was the bestselling album in Turkey in 1986 and may be fairly labelled one of the classic albums of the genre.

had several other hit Arabesque albums during the 1980s. Other singers include

Ebru Gündeş Ebru Gündeş (, born 12 October 1974) is a Turkish pop-folk and arabesque singer, actress, and television personality. Career Ebru Gündeş sings the kind of desperately tragic Arabesque love songs that are the core of Turkish pop music. H ...

, Seda Sayan, and

Sibel Can Sibel Can (born Sibel Cangüre; 1 August 1970) is a Turkish folk pop and Ottoman classical music, classical music singer. Sibel Can became a dancer at the age of 14 and later started her music career. Early life Sibel Can was born in Karagü ...

. The singers Muazzez Ersoy and Bülent Ersoy designate themselves as modern exponents of

Ottoman classical music Ottoman music () or Turkish classical music (, or more recently ) is the tradition of Art music, classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally features a sol ...

Zerrin Özer Zerrin Özer (born 4 November 1957) is a Turkish pop singer. She has been called Turkey's Janis Joplin by several fans. She has many famous hits such as "Gönül" (Heart), "Son Mektup" (The Last Letter), "Dayanamıyorum" (I Can't Stand It), "D� ...

also made Arabesque albums between 1982 and 1988, including her album “Mutluluklar Dilerim,” released in 1984. One of the important names of Arabesque musicians who died in 2000 was

Ahmet Kaya Ahmet Kaya (28 October 1957 – 16 November 2000) was a Turkish– Kurdish folk singer. Kaya was persecuted by Turkish nationalist celebrities and authorities. Kaya left Turkey in an act of self-exile, and moved to France, where he would shor ...

and another of the names died in 2012 was

Azer Bülbül Subutay Kesgin, better known by his stage name Azer Bülbül (1 February 1967 – 6 January 2012), was a prominent Turkish folk singer and actor. Biography Azer Bülbül was born Subutay Kesgin in Arpaçay, Kars Province, Kars in Azerbaijanis, A ...

. Another of the important names of Arabesque music died in 2017 was İbrahim Erkal. A common theme in Arabesque songs is the highly embellished and agonizing depiction of love and yearning, along with unrequited love, grief, and pain. This theme had undertones of class differences in early 1960-70s, during which most of the genre's followers , mostly working-class to lower middle-class , identified themselves. Turkish composer

Fazıl Say Fazıl Say (; born 14 January 1970) is a Turkish pianist and composer who has worked internationally. Life and career Say was born in Ankara in 1970. His father, Ahmet Say, was an author and musicologist. His mother, Gürgün Say, was a pharm ...

has repeatedly condemned and criticized the Arabesque genre, equating the practice of listening to Arabesque “tantamount to treason”.'

References

External links

*
"Crossing The Bridge" (documentary film) on IMDb"Arabic Music""The arabesk debate: music and musicians in modern Turkey" by Martin Stokes on Google Books
{{Folk music 20th-century music genres

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

Culture of the Middle East Culture of Turkey Middle Eastern music World music genres Folk music genres 21st-century music genres

Description and history

See also

References

External links